Mumbai City FC gearing up for fourth season of ISL

Vastavam web: Last year’s semi-finalists, Mumbai City FC, are gearing up for the fourth season of the Indian Super League (ISL) with their head coach Alexandre Guimaraes today stressing his side has two of the finest goalkeepers in the squad.Mumbai City FC kick-off their campaign with an away game against two-time I-League winners and ISL debutants, Bengaluru FC, on November 19.”I also (feel) that someday maybe (we) can see two of the best goal-keepers in India playing,” Guimaraes told a media conference here.

“So what we did in this season is that for our goalkeeping department we have got local players because we are interested to develop them,” quipped the Costa Rican, who coached the team last year too.Last season the franchise lost in the play-off after topping the field in the league stage.”The result is positive and we are building the team from the beginning and the players understood the idea very fast what were are trying to introduce. They are doing the best they can and they are showing what we are asking them to do.

“My boss here (Ranbir Kapoor) has insisted that the players should play with their heart and they did that even in the pre-season. Even though it was pre-season, the players felt bad when we lost a game, so this is very good for a coach and for our staff,” Guimaraes said.The side this year won’t be having the services of star footballers Sunil Chhetri and Diago Forlon, but the coach said the players had understood it was not about names but a collective effort of the team.”We don’t have them (Chhetri and Forlon), but (have) other players Balwant(Singh), Sanju (Pradhan) and (Abinash) Ruidas, among others. This guy here (pointing to Amrinder) pushed hard in the pre-season,” he said.

“I am glad the players understand it is not about names but it is a collective (effort) and that is what we are trying to show from the beginning,” the 58-year-old coach added.”I think we are going step by step. Also during the pre-season, we have played some periods with this distribution (6 Indians and 5 foreigners), They (the foreign players) have shown that they are excited to play for us.” Amrinder Singh, who played for Bengaluru FC in I- League last year, said he was excited to play against his former team in the first game.